Chinglish Vs. Bad Tattoos
During dinner with some old high school friends the other night, one who had recently visited China suggested that I start a business correcting all of the flawed English seen throughout the country. This was my cue, of course, to say that I believe Chinglish (English with Chinese characteristics) has its own intrinsic humor value and shouldn't be eliminated. I then entertained the party with a few of my favorite examples of the genre.
Then, someone mentioned something I hadn't thought of. He said, "Chinglish isn't nearly as bad as people who get bad Chinese tattoos here". Whih, of course, is true- Chinese people must get a kick out of foreigners getting unfortunate Chinese characters permanently inked on their body. There's even a website, called Hanzi Smatter, which tracks these linguistic unforced errors for us. Here's one from a librarians back, which reads "to pay for love". Somehow I doubt this is what she intended when she walked into the parlor that day:
Chinglish on clothes and even on advertisements at least have the benefit of being temporary. Bad Chinese tattoos? Not so much. Ouch.
